The present invention relates generally to a method and apparatus to completely discharge a LiSO.sub.2 battery.
LiSO.sub.2 batteries require complete discharge prior to disposal. This is typically accomplished by a Complete Discharge Device (CDD). A CDD, typically a switch, can be actuated to complete a discharge circuit. When the battery is subject to physical abuse, self-activation, resulting in unintended battery discharge, may result if the switch need simply be depressed or slid from one position to another. One manner of preventing self-activation is to design the discharge actuator such that a special tool is required to activate the discharge function. However, such a system is cumbersome to use.
An example of such a cumbersome device is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,965,505 which relates to the deactivation of a lithium battery by means of a switch. The discharge switch is activated by inserting an elongated object into an aperture located in the battery casing. The inserted object presses one contact against another, thereby closing the discharge circuit. While such a manner of discharging is substantially immune from self-activation, the use of a separate object to be inserted into the battery casing suffers from the drawback of being cumbersome to operate when desired.